Apparatus for distilling water and other fluids



(No Model.)

W. H. HERRIGK. APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING WATER AND OTHER FLUIDS.

Patented Aug. 28,1888.

WITNE S gi- Z f/ M A ATmRms.

N. PETERS. Pbolc-Ulhcgmplmr. Wnhingmn. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orric WILLIAM HALE HERRIOK, OF GRIN NELL, IOWVA APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING WATER AND OTHER FLUIDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 284,011, dated August 28, 1883.

Application filed March 3, 1883. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. HERRIOK, of Grinnell, in the county of Poweshiek and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Distilling Water and other Liquids or Fluids, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention consists in a self-feeding distilling apparatus of novel construction, in which a close or air-tight liquid-supplying vessel is used in connection with a condenser and with a boiler or evaporator having suitable pipe or duct attachments in such manner that a small quantity or thin stratum of the liquid to be distilled is kept automatically at a constant or nearly constant level in the boiler, and liquid to replace that which has been evaporated is fed from the liquid supplying the tank or reservoir and heated before it is introduced to the boiler by its passage through the condenser, substantially as hereinafter described. Such apparatus,'wl1ile it may be used as an automatic still for distilling various liquids or fluids, will be found exceedingly useful in' chemical laboratories, and by druggists and others for distilling water, and by way of illustration it will here be described as so applied.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which the figure represents a vertical section of an apparatus embodying my invention.

A in the drawing indicates a supply tank, vessel, or reservoir in which the water to be distilled is stored, or with which it is charged or replenished, as required, on opening a supply valve or cook, b, for the purpose. This reservoir is closed at top and made airtight, excepting as regards certain pipe or duct connections with which it is fitted.

Arranged below the reservoir A is a condensing tank or vessel, B, that may be closed "with a loose cover, and which is fitted internally with a worm or condensing pipe or duct, B. This worm, at its opposite or upper and lower ends, passes out and through the condensing-tank B, and may have its lower end provided with a stop cook or valve, 0, that "is opened when the apparatus is at work and is running off, as hereinafter described, the condensed vapor or distilled water intoarecepta cle, S, of any suitable kind.

0 is a boiler or evaporating-vessel, which is also arranged below the reservoir A, and may be at one side or end of the condensing-tank B, as shown; or it-may be otherwise suitably arranged in reference to said tank. The upper end of the pipe or worm B of the condenser connects with the boiler G at or near its top.

D is a pipe provided with a stop-cock, d, and arranged to connect the lower portion of the reservoir A with the lower portion of the condenser or condensing-tank B.

E is a pipe connecting the upper portion of the condensing-tank B with the bottom of the boiler O, and F is a pipe extending from the top or upper portion of the reservoir A down nearly to the bottom of said boiler O.

G is a gas-burner, or it may be a lamp or any other heating device, arranged beneath the boiler O. i p

The operation is as follows: Supposing the vesselsA and B to be filled with water and the boiler C to be empty, and the cooks lb and cl both closed, the cock d is then opened, and air from the outside of the apparatus, having free access to the boiler 0 through the worm or pipe B from its lower or delivery end, passes by the pipe F up to the top of the reservoir A. This allows water to fiow by the pipe D into the condensing-tank B, and causes an overflow to take place by the pipe E from the top of said tank B into the boiler G. This will continue till the water-level in the boiler 0 reaches or covers the lower end of the pipe F and closes it, thus stopping the flow of air up the pipe F from the boiler O to the reservoir A, and, a consequence, also stopping the fiow of water from the reservoir A to the tank B and from the tank B to the boiler 0. Heat is now applied by the burner G, or other wise to the boiler C, and the steam or vapor generated in the boiler passes to the worm B of the tank B, and is condensed within said worm, and ultimately is delivered as distilled water into the receiver S. In this action the upper stratum of water in the condenser-tank B will be heated by the vapor passing into the 10a worm B. When the evaporation of the water in the boiler 0 brings the level of the thin stratum of water therein below the lower end of the pipe F, air entering the worm B from its outer or lower end, which is exposed to the atmosphere, and passing into the boiler, escapes up the pipe F to the top of the reservoir A. This destroys the equilibrium that before existed, and induces a fresh supply of water to take place from said reservoir into the'bottom of the tank B by the pipe D, and, displacing the heated water in the upper portion of said tank, causes said heated water to pass over, by the pipe E, into the boiler 0, thus replenishing the boiler and raising the water-level therein, so as to again seal the lower end of the pipe F, and so put a stop to the flow of water, as before. This action of an intermittent supply of water to the boiler and condensation within the condenser-worm of the vapor generated in the boiler may be continued automatically until the reservoir A is exhausted of water, and inasmuch as the water which is intermittently passed off from the condenser-tank B. to the boiler O is heated before leaving said tank, the temperature in the boiler is not materially lowered.

It will thus be seen that the apparatus will continue to work without requiring any personal attention so long as any water remains in the reservoir A. It should be noted, however, that it is desirable or necessary that the pipe F should be made of considerable area, in order that the water which rises in it every time the lower end of said pipe is water-scaled will fall freely back as said end of said pipe is uncovered by the boiling away of the water in the boiler, to allow the air entering the boiler by the condenser-worm to pass up said pipe for the purpose of re-establishing the flow of water to the boiler.

Should the water in the tank B become too The reservoir A can be replenished at any time by closing the cock (1 and opening the supply-valve b, to fill as required. This may be done without interrupting the action of th apparatus or its boiler.

The boiler C may be variously arranged in relation with the condenser according to the size of the apparatus, the means used for heating the boiler, the room at liberty to be occupied by the apparatus, or as other circumstances may suggest. Thus itmight stand on alevel, or thereabout, with the top of the condenser, or it might be situated beneath it, the pipes connecting it and the reservoir and condenser being arranged to accord.

Having thus described my inventi0n,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An apparatus for distilling water and other liquids, in which are combined a closed reservoir for containing and supplying the liquid to be distilled, and a boiler and a condenser arranged below said reservoir, to-

gether with pipes and ducts organized and arranged to establish communication between said boiler and condenser with the outside atmosphere, and with the supply-reservoir, substantially as described, whereby the boiler is automatically supplied with a shallow body of liquid at an approximately constant level, the replenishingliquid is heated by its passage through the condenser before introducing it to theboiler, and an automatic constant supply of the distillate to and through the condenser is obtained, essentially as specified.

2. In an apparatus for distilling water and other liquids, the combination ofthe elevated close or air-tight reservoir A, the condensing tank or vessel 13, arranged below said reservoir, and provided with a condensing worm or duct establishing communication through the upper and lower portions of said vessel, a liquid-supplying pipe or duet, D, arranged to connect the reservoir A with the lower portion of the condensi11g-tank,-the boiler C, also arranged below said reservoir, the pipe E, arranged to supply by gravity the liquid to be distilled from the upper portion of the condensing-tank B to the bottom of the boiler, and the air-pipe F, extending from the upper portion of the reservoir to nearly the bottom of the boiler, substantially as and for the pur- 10o poses herein set forth.

WV ILLIAM HALE HERRICK.

Witnesses:

R. ANDERSON, Mrs. R. ANDERSON. 

